Early Diwali for Jio Platforms IPO investors; stock surges 33% in two sessions, adds over ₹3.3 lakh crore to market cap

Jio Platforms shares extended their rally for a second straight session on Thursday, rising as much as 5.12% in early trade in line with gains in the broader market. The stock has surged around 33% over two sessions, delivering an early Diwali for investors who participated in the company’s ₹30,213-crore initial public offering (IPO).

The Reliance Group stock had jumped 26.81% on its stock market debut on Wednesday after attracting an overwhelming response to its IPO. The continued gains have added more than ₹3.3 lakh crore to Jio Platforms’ market capitalisation (m-cap) from ₹10.30 lakh crore at the IPO issue price of ₹1,119, making it India’s second-most valuable listed company, ahead of Bharti Airtel.

Jio Platforms shares opened Thursday’s session on the BSE at ₹1,448.05, up 2.16% from the previous close of ₹1,417.35. Extending their opening gains, the shares climbed to an intraday high of ₹1,490, taking the company’s m-cap beyond ₹13.6 lakh crore.

The stock had closed its first trading session at ₹1,419, up ₹300, or 26.81%, from the IPO issue price. It had listed at ₹1,358 on both the BSE and NSE, a premium of 21.36% over the issue price, before extending gains through the session.

The strong debut had already added around ₹2.75 lakh crore to the company’s market value, taking its m-cap to ₹13.05 lakh crore and placing it ahead of Bharti Airtel among India’s most valuable listed companies.

RIL shares rebound; Airtel slips

Reliance Industries (RIL), the parent of Jio Platforms, also gained on Thursday after declining 3.46% in the previous session. RIL shares rose as much as 1.7% to ₹1,178, taking the company’s market capitalisation to around ₹15.92 lakh crore at the time of reporting.

Bharti Airtel, meanwhile, extended its losses for a second straight session. The telecom major fell as much as 0.37% to ₹1,942.70 on Thursday, taking its market capitalisation to around ₹12.13 lakh crore. Its shares had settled 1.42% lower on Wednesday, when Jio Platforms’ listing pushed the company ahead of Airtel in market value.

In a separate development, brokerage firm Motilal Oswal on Wednesday initiated coverage on Jio Platforms with a ‘Buy’ rating and a target price of ₹1,350. The brokerage values the company at 11.5 times its estimated FY29 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), using a discounted cash flow-backed valuation.

The brokerage expects Jio Platforms to maintain its leadership in wireless and home broadband while expanding its digital services across cloud, enterprise communications, Internet of Things (IoT) and managed services. It projects a compound annual growth rate of 14% in consolidated revenue, 15% in reported EBITDA and 20% in profit after tax between FY26 and FY29.

“We believe JPL could trade at a premium to Bharti’s India business over the near term, driven by its market leadership, greater influence over industry tariffs, and low liquidity (free float of less than 3%),” the brokerage said.

The ₹30,213-crore Jio IPO surpassed Hyundai Motor India’s ₹27,870-crore offering in 2024 to become India’s largest public issue by size. It also attracted approximately 1.37 crore applications, making it the first Indian IPO to cross the one-crore mark. The issue was subscribed 22.19 times by the close of bidding on October 23, with investors bidding for 438.26 crore shares against 19.75 crore shares on offer.

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